Applicant Survey - 2002

This survey of applicants who were registered for the 2002 APPIC Match was conducted via the internet between February 25 and March 17, 2002. Subscribers to the e-mail list MATCH-NEWS were notified that a survey was available at a specific internet address.

Results of the survey are presented below. A total of 1,171 internship applicants completed the survey. Please keep in mind that survey participants were not selected randomly, as not all applicants were subscribed to MATCH-NEWS and thus some did not receive notification that a survey was available.

Some of the more interesting findings from this survey include:

1. Applicants preferred that APPIC establish a REQUIRED interview notification date (as opposed to continuing the current VOLUNTARY date) by more than a 3-to-1 margin (70% vs. 21%; see question 8).

2. 93% of applicants indicated that APPIC should REQUIRE all internship programs to notify all applicants of their interview status (see question 10).

3. Applicants submitted an average of 13.1 internship applications, compared to an average of 13.8 reported by applicants in a survey conducted after the 1999 Match (see question 12).

4. Approximately 73% of all interview offers were tendered on or before the December 15 voluntary interview notification date (see questions 13 and 14).

5. Applicants reported that approximately 82% of sites notified them of their interview status (e.g., received an interview, no longer under consideration) (see questions 12 and 15).

6. Applicants reported that approximately 27% of sites requested supplementary application materials that duplicated information that was already provided on the AAPI (see questions 12 and 16).

7. The average number of airline tickets purchased for attending interviews and open houses was 1.8. A total of 41.1% of applicants in this sample purchased NO airline tickets (see question 19).

Missing data and "Not Applicable" responses were eliminated, and percentages do not necessarily total 100% due to rounding. Survey questions 20-24 requested open-ended comments and thus the results are not included below.

1. Type of Doctoral Program

Clinical 852 73 % Counseling 208 18 % School 38 3 % Other 71 6 %

2. Degree Sought

Ph.D. 799 68 % Psy.D. 343 29 % Ed.D. 3 0 % Other 24 2 %

3. Is your doctoral program APA- or CPA-accredited?

Yes 1103 94 % No 65 6 %

4. Were you matched to an internship program by the APPIC Match? (i.e., did your official notification from National Matching Services indicate that you were successfully matched to an internship program?)

Yes 1066 91% No 94 8% Withdrew / No rankings submitted 7 1%

INTERPRETATION NOTE: It appears that unmatched applicants were underrepresented in this survey (2002 APPIC Match statistics indicated that 15% of participating applicants were not matched).

5a. The materials and instructions provided by National Matching Services (NMS) were clear and comprehensive.

a. APPIC should keep the current VOLUNTARY 245 21 % interview notification date of December 15, and, in addition, should ask each internship program to list their actual interview notification date in the APPIC Directory.

b. APPIC should change to a REQUIRED interview 818 70 % notification date, where all internship programs would be required to adhere to the December 15 date of interview notifications.

c. No preference. 101 9 %

9. If APPIC moves to a REQUIRED interview notification date, HOW IMPORTANT do you think it is for those sites that offer only telephone interviews to be mandated to comply with this requirement?

10. Should APPIC institute a policy that requires internship programs to notify ALL applicants about whether or not they will be interviewed (in other words, programs would be required to notify those applicants who are rejected for an interview in addition to those that are offered an interview)?

11. Did you use any of the APPIC travel discounts to purchase an airline ticket, hotel room, and/or rental car?

Yes 107 9 % No 1011 86 % Didn't know about it 51 4 %

12. How many internship sites did you apply to (i.e., how many separate internship applications did you submit)?

Mean = 13.1 Median = 13 SD = 5.6 Mode = 15 Range = 0 - 40

13. How many interviews (telephone or on-site) were you offered?

Mean = 7.4 Median = 7 SD = 3.8 Mode = 7 Range = 0 - 24

14. Considering ONLY those sites that offered you an interview, how many made the offer ON OR BEFORE the December 15 voluntary notification date? (Please estimate if you don't know the exact number)

Mean = 5.4 SD = 3.4

15. Considering ALL of the sites that you applied to, how many contacted you via telephone, e-mail, or letter regarding your status (e.g., received an interview, no longer under consideration)? (Please estimate if you don't know the exact number)

Mean = 10.8 SD = 5.2

16. A number of sites request additional application materials beyond the AAPI and AAPI Verification Form, letters of reference, cover letter, and transcripts. In your experience, how many sites (of the ones that you applied to) requested materials beyond those listed that, in your opinion, duplicated information that you had already provided on the AAPI?

Mean = 3.6 SD = 3.8

17. How many programs did you include on your final Rank Order List (i.e., how many program code numbers were listed)?

Mean = 7.7 SD = 4.3

18. What was the rank of the program that you were matched to?

(Please see the 2002 APPIC Match Statistics for this information)

19. How many separate round-trip airline tickets did you purchase in order to attend on-site interviews or open houses?

Mean = 1.8 Median = 1 SD = 2.1 Mode = 0 Range = 0 - 16

A total of 41.1% purchased no airline tickets; 16.6% purchased one ticket; 13.7% purchased two tickets; 11.2% purchased three tickets; 7.4% purchased four tickets; 4.3% purchased five tickets; 5.7% purchased six or more airline tickets.